Chapter 4: Drunkard

“Live on, you must live on.”

In her daze, Yu Ruoyin heard someone’s plea, the voice full of sorrow and humility.

An inexplicable bitterness welled up in her heart, and tears nearly rolled down her cheeks.

She forced herself to rally her spirits and cracked her eyes open just a sliver, catching only a glimpse of gold.

Before she could see more, her heavy eyelids pressed down again.

Yu Ruoyin’s vision plunged back into darkness, her hazy consciousness growing even more blurred. She couldn’t even tell if it was a dream.

She regained awareness again at dawn, as faint light filtered through the curtains onto her eyelids.

A cool woody fragrance wafted into her nose, rousing Yu Ruoyin’s mind.

She first saw a splash of bright red, followed by dense bite marks.

Yu Ruoyin rubbed her eyes, and the fine marks grew clearer. The deeper bites had turned bruised and purple. The profound traces snapped her fully awake in an instant.

Of course, she hadn’t forgotten what happened last night. Though Jiang Huaining had schemed against her, Jiang Huaining was truly enchanting.

Her allure amplified by desire, last night’s Jiang Huaining had outshone spring peaches in her gorgeous beauty.

Jiang Huaining had deliberately seduced her. Every soft moan and gasp had landed perfectly at her ear, brushing the tender skin of her earlobe and sending shivers through her.

Yu Ruoyin sank into the memory, her vision filled with the increasingly vivid crimson flower at the corner of Jiang Huaining’s eye.

She had kissed the edges of every petal and tasted the sweetness of the red mole at its core.

Yu Ruoyin pinched her palm to force herself back to clarity.

Last night, she had even accused Jiang Huaining. Now fully sober, she savored the recollection instead—and even felt guilty.

She remembered biting Jiang Huaining last night, but she hadn’t expected to leave so many teeth marks on her.

Half of Jiang Huaining’s exposed body was still hidden under the covers; only her shoulder and half her chest were bare. With so many bite marks already visible there, Yu Ruoyin didn’t dare imagine the state of the covered areas. She couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Yu Ruoyin slowly pulled up the quilt, fully covering Jiang Huaining.

Every bruise on that snow-white, delicate skin made her look like a beast. She really didn’t dare look more.

Yu Ruoyin was certain she had no bad habits or violent tendencies, but she had bitten Jiang Huaining—it was real. She couldn’t really be a little dog, could she?

Yu Ruoyin sighed and straightened the edge of the quilt for Jiang Huaining. “Sorry.”

Yu Ruoyin didn’t dare lie beside Jiang Huaining any longer. She haphazardly pulled on her clothes and knelt at Jiang Huaining’s side, gazing at her sleeping face. With her head bowed and shoulders hunched, she looked just like a quail.

She only waited for Jiang Huaining to wake, so she could express her apology first.

Jiang Huaining must have been exhausted. Yu Ruoyin waited a long time, but she showed no sign of stirring.

Looking closely, Jiang Huaining’s complexion seemed even worse than when they’d returned to the shop last night. Her swollen lips had no color at all.

Her face was ashen and tinged with green. Last night, she had suspected Jiang Huaining of draining her essence, but now it seemed more like she had drained Jiang Huaining’s.

Yu Ruoyin felt even more guilty.

She didn’t know where she’d gotten such stamina from, clinging to Jiang Huaining and demanding without restraint.

Something felt off.

Yu Ruoyin had a clear sense of her own limits. Her stamina was decent, but nowhere near enough to outlast a spirit.

How was she brimming with energy after sleeping, while Jiang Huaining still hadn’t woken?

The more she thought, the stranger it seemed. Finally, the sleeping Jiang Huaining stirred. “You…”

Jiang Huaining probably hadn’t expected to see her kneeling there. Her freshly opened eyes fixed unblinkingly on Yu Ruoyin, and she asked worriedly, “You… why are you kneeling?”

A somewhat hoarse voice leaked from her throat, stripped of its usual chill and laced with softness.

Light and fluffy like cotton, it slowly wrapped around her heart.

“I… sorry, I…” Yu Ruoyin had been kneeling for a while, and her legs had gone numb.

She wanted to edge closer to Jiang Huaining, to let her see the guilt clearly, but as she lightly shifted her knees forward, her whole body toppled. It was Jiang Huaining, struggling to sit up, who caught her.

Yu Ruoyin was just about to apologize when Jiang Huaining’s encircling arms suddenly shoved her outward with force.

Bang!

Yu Ruoyin hit the ground headfirst. More than the pain, dizziness assaulted her brain first.

She didn’t see Jiang Huaining’s expression. By the time she shook off the vertigo and turned her gaze back to the bed, Jiang Huaining had already retreated fully under the covers, even hiding her head this time. “Get out!”

A cold voice drilled out from under the quilt. Yu Ruoyin’s heart was already shrouded in confusion.

Though she had bitten Jiang Huaining, tracing back to the root, it was Jiang Huaining who had ignited last night’s passion.

Jiang Huaining had seduced her, then cast her aside.

Yu Ruoyin’s heart hung suspended, unsure whether to keep apologizing or declare her resolve to take responsibility.

“Jiang…”

Her voice had barely started, not even finishing Jiang Huaining’s name, when an even colder rebuke came. “Yu Ruoyin, I told you to get out!”

Because of her lonely upbringing, Yu Ruoyin appeared strong on the surface, but inside she was fragile and sensitive.

She fell easily into the trap of others’ gentleness and crashed just as quickly under cold indifference.

Her wildly climbing thoughts not only hurt others but wounded her most of all.

Yu Ruoyin stood up with a heavy heart. Dragging her shattered self-respect, she walked out without a word.

She didn’t notice the stain blooming outward from inside the quilt. She only thought it natural that Jiang Huaining had tired of her so quickly. Compared to Jiang Huaining, her only advantage was youth. She lacked Jiang Huaining’s beauty, her wealth.

Even if youth was alluring enough, Jiang Huaining’s status could find someone even younger.

What was she, then?

Just a pill to alleviate a long night’s boredom?

It had been a mere whim to begin with, and moreover, she had hurt Jiang Huaining.

Though Jiang Huaining didn’t seem the type to treat intimacy as a game, one couldn’t judge by appearances—just like how she hadn’t known she had a biting fetish before last night.

The seeping teeth marks surfaced in her mind, and Yu Ruoyin deflated like a punctured balloon, her fight gone.

There was nothing to be sad about.

She hadn’t lost out—Jiang Huaining had.

Worst case, they’d never meet again. If Jiang Huaining didn’t want her, she wouldn’t shamelessly cling.

The more Yu Ruoyin thought, the faster she walked.

She soon reached the stairs.

Four Spirits opened for business at night; no one was around during the day. The only living thing in sight was the tipsy Xia Yu.

Xia Yu lounged on the sofa, empty bottles piled on the table by her feet. Her face slightly flushed, she squinted at the hurried Yu Ruoyin. “You took advantage of Jiang Huaining and still dare to run? Pretty bold.”

Yu Ruoyin wasn’t surprised Xia Yu knew what had happened between her and Jiang Huaining. She was more surprised by Xia Yu’s tolerance for alcohol.

When she’d arrived last night, Xia Yu had already drunk plenty and was in this half-drunk state.

Judging by the number of empty bottles, Xia Yu had been drinking all night, yet she looked the same as last night.

On second thought, Xia Yu wasn’t human, so she couldn’t measure her by human standards.

For her first time, Yu Ruoyin’s acceptance was remarkably good. In such a short span, she’d accepted that this world held non-humans beyond people, even had relations with one, and been discarded by one.

Her heart sank again. Yu Ruoyin lowered her head and quickened her steps toward the shop door.

She wanted to slip away quietly, but Xia Yu blocked her path.

Xia Yu lazily lifted her gaze. “Hey, no eating and running.”

Yu Ruoyin’s eyes flicked up slightly, her lashes trembling. Fear and grievance swirled in her depths. “I, I didn’t. It was… she chased me out!”

“Hm?” Xia Yu seemed surprised.

Taking advantage of Xia Yu’s daze, Yu Ruoyin sidestepped.

She skirted around Xia Yu and headed for the door again, but after two steps, her wrist was gripped. “Hey, did you hear me? Did she chase you out of the room, or out of the shop?”

Yu Ruoyin didn’t understand why Xia Yu asked that, but she could read the skepticism on her face.

Even if Xia Yu and Jiang Huaining didn’t seem close—even if she didn’t show much respect for her boss—she still sided with her own.

Yu Ruoyin felt aggrieved. “I’m not the one not owning up!”

She struggled fiercely, tears welling in her eyes.

She didn’t want to cry; it was just that Xia Yu’s strength was too great. No matter how she thrashed, she didn’t budge. The helplessness squeezed out her tears.

Just like so many times before.

She was always the weak one—unable to keep her parents, unable to find her grandmother, unable to change the curse of her unlucky birthdays.

With great difficulty, on her eighteenth birthday, she’d waited for a different story, one not so unlucky, a glamorous encounter. Yet the dream shattered so quickly.

Yu Ruoyin struggled hard, and Xia Yu impatiently furrowed her brow. “Move again, and I’ll swallow you.”

Yu Ruoyin was truly frightened. She shrank her shoulders, her eyes fragile and despairing. “Why won’t you let me leave when she already chased me out? Do you have to wait for her to chase me again? Just because you’re not human, you can bully people like this? Oh, you probably can. After all, you could eat me, kill me, make me vanish forever anytime.”

This time, it was Xia Yu who was stunned.

She released Yu Ruoyin, the flush fading from her face. “Did you mishear? Jiang Huaining couldn’t possibly…”

Xia Yu’s words cut off because Yu Ruoyin no longer looked at her.

Yu Ruoyin bowed her head, lashes drooping. “I don’t have to live, but I haven’t found my grandmother yet. I don’t want to die.”

“…” Xia Yu rushed to the counter and shoved the kraft envelope Yu Ruoyin had left there last night into her hands. “You, you go. When Jiang Huaining wakes up, I’ll tell her to find you.

Yu Ruoyin barely registered Xia Yu’s words. She stared at the bundle of money. “What’s this? Prostitution money?”

“?” Xia Yu didn’t dare speak to Yu Ruoyin anymore. She pushed both her and the money out the door.

By the time Jiang Huaining came downstairs, only Xia Yu remained in the shop, staring blankly.

Uncharacteristically, she hadn’t touched the wine. This surprised Jiang Huaining. “You…”

As soon as Jiang Huaining spoke, Xia Yu responded instantly. “That fragile item went back!”

“I know.” Jiang Huaining had sensed only Xia Yu’s presence in the shop before even descending the stairs. Still, Xia Yu’s term for Yu Ruoyin struck her as odd. “What do you mean, fragile item?”

Xia Yu exaggeratedly recounted everything Yu Ruoyin had said and done. Then, very solemnly, she declared, “I was just scaring her. I didn’t humiliate or bully her! She’s too sensitive—like a porcupine!”

“Porcupines prick others; she only hurts herself.” Jiang Huaining gave a wry smile. “I must have hurt her.”

“Since you understand her, why…” Only then did Xia Yu turn her gaze to Jiang Huaining. The moment she saw her clearly, the words died. Unlike her coldness last night, her expression now burned with anxiety. “How are you… nearly drained dry? What is she exactly? Or did you do something?”

Jiang Huaining didn’t answer. She glanced at the darkening sky outside. “Xia Yu, I’m heading out.”